


i'll think it's magic and i hope you'll agree

by shesthesmoke



Category: The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Meet-Ugly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-07 19:53:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8814142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shesthesmoke/pseuds/shesthesmoke
Summary: Will doesn't hate Nico, they just kind of ignored each other for a few years and now he feels weird whenever the other boy is around.





	1. I

“Nico, wake up!” Bianca yelled joyfully, almost pounding her younger brother's chamber door down.

 

Nico rolled over and groaned, sitting up as the corner of the open book he had left in his bed the night before poked into his cheek. He bolted up as he remembered the old reading lantern he had not put out before falling asleep. Thankfully, it hadn't been knocked over. Nico smoothed out the crinkled page of the book and closed it, forgetting to mark his place. Then, he padded across the room and struggled to open the large dark red door for his sister.

 

Nico opened the door to reveal his sister already in her ballgown, even though the festivities were not to start for another nine hours. The visiting royals wouldn't even be there until noon. Nico mentioned this to his sister, who just giggled and ruffled his hair. “I'm excited, Nico! This only happens once every two years!” She enthused. 

 

“Whas’ even the big deal?” Nico sighed, looking up at his older sister and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

 

Bianca laughed again. “I know this might come as a shock to you, but it's possible for people to get excited about things other than new books. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

 

Nico grumbled and shut the door in his sister's face. He didn’t understand her sometimes. Having to meet dozens of new people in a day and being around them for hours seemed like the opposite of fun and exciting. It sounded terrifying. 

 

Nico opened his book and immersed himself in the adventure tale once again. He had just gotten to the inevitable part of the story where the prince found the tower that the princess was trapped in and tried to find a way to rescue her. All of the stories in the castle library involved princes saving princesses. Nico wished that just one story would involve a prince getting lost in the forest and making friends with a really cool dog or something like that. 

 

Nico was startled by horses loudly neighing right outside his window. He looked outside and saw two sets of carriages. The first set was plain but elegant white, each decorated with an elaborate stone owl on the front. The were drawn by white and brown speckled horses.

 

The next carriages were so beautiful they made Nico's breath catch in his throat. They were also white, but they created a rainbow when they caught the light. The fur of the horses pulling them, one white and one black for each carriage, held the same iridescent quality.

 

Nico's gaze was pulled away from the window by another knock on the door. He opened it to reveal one of the servants. “People are starting to arrive. It's time to get dressed,” she said. 

 

~

 

Will yawned as his feet hit the ground, momentarily regretting his decision to get up at the crack of dawn. He couldn't help it. Ever since his father had told him about the visit to the kingdom of Hades for the yearly meeting, he had been bouncing off of the walls. He didn't have any reason to be up early, he had packed every bag he could possibly need the night before. 

 

A knock sounded from the other side of the door. “Will? Are you up, honey?” Will scampered across his room to open the door. On the other side was his mom, smiling at him. Will moved out of the center of the doorway to let her in. She entered the room and sat down on his bed, bouncing a little bit. “Excited, Will?” she asked with a big sunshiney smile.

 

“Yeah!” He whispered yelled, jumping and throwing both fists in the air. “Mom, have you ever been to Hades’s castle? What's it like? I heard it looks all dark and mysterious on the outside, but it's so elegant on the inside that it looks like a fairy tale! Is that true? I can't wait to see the ballroom!”

 

His mom laughed, “Calm down, baby. You're going way too fast. Do you want to hear answers, or do you just want to hear your own voice, hm?”

 

Will took a few steps back and clasped his hands behind his back. “Sorry,” he recited, staring at the ground.

  
His mom took his hand and pulled him into her lap. “It's okay. One day, that enthusiasm will lead an army. Now, it's almost time to go. I'll let you stay in your pajamas, but only because we have such a long trip ahead of us. Let's go.”


	2. II

“King Poseidon!” announced the royal announcer as Poseidon entered the main hall and made his way towards his seat, followed by a boy who shared his dark hair, green eyes, and wicked smile. Nico kept stealing glances at him, getting a weird feeling in his chest.

 

Other visitors were introduced. When the last guest took their seat, Hades stood up. He made a short speech, something about how he was so glad that so many great rulers could come together to celebrate. Blah blah blah. Nico wasn't paying attention. 

 

When the speech was over, impossibly large trays of food were placed on the table, mounds and mounds of strange looking things with labels that Nico could read but not pronounce. Naturally, being 8, he heaped a pile of chicken nuggets onto his plate. 

 

~

 

After the banquet, the kids were released into the castle’s courtyard while the grownups stayed in, taking part in important negotiations. Nico stepped outside slowly, feeling enormously shy in the presence of people he hadn’t seen in years. He looked for his sister, but she was already talking to her friends Zoe and Thalia. If Nico tried to join in, he’d only get yelled at. 

 

Rather than standing around and sticking out like a sore thumb in his own home, Nico decided to venture into the woods. After getting far enough in that the sun wasn’t entirely visible and picking up the kid sized sword he’d stashed beside a tree, he came to a stream. After crossing the stream, he heard the sound of someone else crossing after him. He swung the sword around and pointed it at the figure behind him. 

 

“Hey! Please don’t stab me!” the person begged. Nico put his sword down and took a closer look at the person who had been following him. The boy was taller than Nico, but so was just about everyone else. The boy had to be either Nico’s age or just a year older. He had shaggy blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles. He wore a gold trimmed white tunic, like a prince in a fairy tale.

 

Nico tucked his sword into his belt. “You’re safe… for now,” Nico smirked. The other kid cracked an uneasy smile. “What’s your name?” Nico asked. 

 

“Will,” the boy said quietly. Will appeared to be deeply uncomfortable. Nico felt a flash of an urge to comfort the other boy, but it dissipated. They didn’t even know each other.

 

“Will, do you want to come exploring with me?” Nico asked. He didn’t know what he was doing. He’d never had anyone else come exploring with him before. To his surprise, Will nodded vigorously. 

 

The two boys continued into the forest, quietly as each got used to the other, but in no time they were screaming and laughing and chasing each other around joyfully. 

 

~

 

“Hey, take it easy!” Will laughed as Nico crashed into him, sending him tumbling down a very small hill. He stood up, unhurt. His glee became terror when he realized that he didn't know where Nico was. It had gotten dark out, and he could barely make out his fingers when he stuck out his arm. 

 

“Nico!” he yelled, trying very hard to keep his fear out of his voice. 

 

“Will?” Nico's voice carried over to where Will was. 

 

“Nico?”

 

“Will!” Will walked up the small bump on the forest floor with his hands out in front of him. Finally, he could just make out Nico's mop of dark hair and a few of the buttons on his jacket reflecting the moonlight. 

 

Nico gently placed a hand on the outer part of Will's upper arm to steady him. “I'm right here.” Will turned around to see Nico and both boys burst out laughing. “Your voice! Could you even hear yourself? You’d have thought you’d fallen down a cliff, not a hill!”

  
“You! I was freaking out and you were so calm. Like…” Will struggled to find an accurate comparison. “You were like my Prince Charming.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I split this chapter into 2 parts so the next update will probably be pretty soon (also Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah)


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